Q’town beggar lashes out at stingy Auckland snobs
STEPHEN Robertson and his paper cup have become a fixture at the top of Queenstown Mall since he arrived in town from Auckland at the start of February.
The man who is believed to be Queenstown’s first beggar claims people in the resort are much more generous than ‘‘snobby’’ Aucklanders.
‘‘I’m enjoying my life. I’m loving it here. It’s so cool,’’ said Robertson, who claimed to make up to $100 on a good day begging in his new home.
‘‘People around here have got money. They stop and talk to you. In Auckland they don’t even talk to you. They snob you.’’
His arrival has raised a few concerns in the resort town, where the median house price rose to $913,000, or 15 times the average annual wage, in 2018.
DowntownQT town centre manager Steve Wilde said businesses had been in touch with him since Robertson appeared on the streets and were concerned about his welfare.
‘‘If someone needs some help then we would want to see that happen.’’
However, the expectation was that anyone asking for money on the streets would do so in a ‘‘busking-type’’ situation and there was a by-law to adhere to.
‘‘If people are going to set up on the street and ask for money the quid pro quo is that there’s an entertainment element to it and that guy does not fit this category.’’
Robertson’s income from begging was supplemented by an invalid’s benefit.
He had been sleeping in a tent given to him someone who was leaving town, and the Salvation Army had provided him with food and a sleeping bag.
Salvation Army social worker Hine Marchand said Queenstown was one of the few centres in New Zealand that didn’t have emergency housing or a refuge for those who needed it.
‘‘There’s absolutely nothing and if people want to freedom-camp they have to go out of town.
‘‘If they put a tent up around town they get a fine. How they are expected to pay that when they are begging to live, I don’t know.’’
It was almost impossible to find a bed in a backpackers also, as Queenstown was full of visitors during the Chinese new year holiday period.
Neither the Salvation Army nor the Queenstown Lakes District Council were aware of homeless people begging in the area before.
The council had received some complaints and inquiries relating to Robertson and council officers had spoken to him to check on his wellbeing.